Chapter 44 – The Unsealing
Ethan drew a steady breath and willed the system to release the seal within Lirael.
A faint golden glow spread from his palm, pressed firmly against her bare chest. The warmth pulsed outward like rippling sunlight on water, illuminating the room in a hushed, otherworldly radiance.
Lirael's eyes fluttered shut as she gasped softly, a sudden heat blooming near her heart. A shimmering sigil flared into existence before them—a complex crest shaped like a dragon, its body interwoven with a pentagram-like lattice of locks. Each lock glowed faintly, radiating an oppressive presence as though guarding something ancient and dangerous.
The first lock cracked open with a sharp clink.
Lirael winced, her body arching slightly against Ethan's hand.
Then the second lock shattered.
The pain doubled, and her lips parted in a pained breath.
"Stop—should I stop it!?" Ethan muttered, panic edging into his voice as he tried to pull back.
But her trembling hand shot forward, catching his wrist. "N-No… don't… I can feel it," she whispered through clenched teeth, her voice faltering with each word. "Something… is trying to leave me… I can't stop here…"
"I thought it was going to be painless but—"
"I–Its f–fine"
Her determination burned through the agony written across her face. Ethan's jaw tightened. For a moment he hesitated, then shifted closer, sliding his left arm around her. He pulled her into his embrace, her back resting against his shoulder, his left hand steadying her by the shoulder while his right remained firmly against her chest.
"Then I'll be with you," he murmured into her ear, his voice resolute.
The third lock splintered. A jolt of pain wracked her body, and she bit down a cry, clutching at his arm. Ethan held her tighter.
The fourth lock snapped. The golden glow grew harsher, its light cutting through the room like burning dawn. Sweat trickled down Lirael's brow, but she didn't cry out loud.
Finally, the fifth lock burst apart with a resounding crack. The azure dragon sigil trembled, then slowly fractured into motes of fading light, dissolving into the air like mist.
At that very moment, the amulet around Lirael's neck—a delicate trinket shaped like moth wings—began to flicker violently. Pale light sparked erratically from it, threatening to rupture. Ethan's eyes followed as information suddenly flashed across his vision:
> [D-Ranked Illusion Artifact]
Disguises the wearer by altering hair color and subtly shifting facial features.
The unstable glow intensified, unstable and dangerous. Without hesitation, Ethan unclasped it and yanked it free. The artifact sputtered with one last flicker before falling silent in his palm.
Then he looked at her.
His breath caught.
Before him lay not the veiled woman he had known, but something utterly breathtaking. Her long, slender ears marked her unmistakably as an elf. Silken strands of hair spilled across the bed in waves of shimmering blue, glinting like moonlight on the ocean. Her skin was pale and radiant, glowing with an ethereal luster untouched by the harshness of the world. And her face—gods, her face—was a vision of unearthly beauty, refined and flawless, as though sculpted by divine hands themselves.
Ethan's heart skipped. His gaze lingered too long, caught between disbelief and awe.
"…So this is how an real elf looks like huh?...beautiful...or maybe she is special" he whispered under his breath, the word barely audible.
But then he shook himself, forcing the haze from his mind. Now wasn't the time to lose himself in wonder.
The seal was gone. But Lirael, her strength spent and her body wracked by pain, had fallen unconscious in his arms. Her breathing was shallow but steady.
Gently, Ethan adjusted her clothes back in place, careful and respectful. He laid her onto the bed, drawing a blanket over her form. For a long moment, he simply stood there, watching her chest rise and fall with each slow breath, the shimmering-blue strands of her hair glimmering faintly in the dim light.
Finally, he pulled a chair to her bedside and sat down, his eyes never leaving her. One hand rested against the edge of the bed.
"…Rest easy," he murmured, his voice quiet but firm. "I'll be here."
The room was silent again, save for the faint sound of her breathing and the steady beat of Ethan's heart.
Ethan leaned back in his chair, his breathing slowly calming. The glow of the seal had faded, and the room had returned to its dim stillness, but his heart still beat as if he had just walked out of battle.
"…System. Inspect."
At his thought, translucent letters shimmered into the air before his eyes.
---
[Status Window — Subject: Liraen Vaerune]
Age: 122
Race: Elf (Awakened) (Abyssal Oceania Sovereign Highelf — Bloodline Dormant)
Title: — None
Talent: "Indomitable Tide" — The deeper the pressure, the stronger the current. When faced with extreme adversity, physical and magical resistance gradually rise, and recovery rate increases proportional to sustained damage over time.
(Sealed — Forced Use: 27%) → Unsealed
Level: 8 — (33,453 / 34,015)
Status: Sealed — Mana Circulation Restrained, Stats Reduction, Bloodline Suppression, xp reduction.→ Unsealed
---
Attributes
(For a normal adult female elf: STR 0.6, CON 0.8, VIT 1, AGI 1.4, STA 1, INT 1, MANA 1.2)
STR — 4.1 → 4.6
VIT — 6.7 → 9.0
CON — 4.4 → 4.8
AGI — 6.8 → 9.4
STA — 7.1 → 7.1
INT — 6.9 → 6.9
MANA — 4.6 → 9.2
Unassigned stat points: 32 (Sealed → Unsealed)
Stat increase per level:
STR: +0.5
VIT: +1
CON: +0.5
AGI: +1
STA: +0.5
INT: +0.5
MANA: +1.0
---
Bloodline Status
Current Estimated Power Output: 0.3% (due to diluted heritage and dormant bloodline)
Potential Power Output (After Bloodline Awakening Potion): 100%
---
Ethan blinked, taken aback. "…Damn."
The numbers told a story crueler than any wound. She had been living worse than some unawakened commoner, her strength bound, her talent shackled. No wonder she had flinched whenever the unsealing was brought up. To her, it hadn't been hope—it had been a curse, a reminder of what she was denied.
"She didn't even leveled up even once in this raid where I leveled up 4 times..."
His eyes lingered on the part that stood out the most.
Stamina. Intelligence. Even restrained, they were unusually high. The marks of someone who had clawed forward despite the chains.
"She's… a hard worker," he muttered under his breath, the words almost sounding strange to his own ears. "All this time, fighting against something no one else could see…"
His gaze drifted to the bed. Lirael lay there in silence, her long blue hair spilling over the pillow like waves caught in moonlight. The faint rise and fall of her chest was the only movement. She looked impossibly serene, her lips parted slightly, her face unguarded in sleep.
Ethan swallowed. An unexplainable feeling welled in him, sharp and unfamiliar.
What is this…?
He had met beautiful women before. Danced with them, laughed with them, even his business wife who was called beautiful in her own accords. He wasn't the kind of man to be easily swayed just by looks. And yet—there was something about her that reached deeper. Something pure, vulnerable and untainted by the masks people so often wore.
"She seems… different," he whispered, almost in disbelief at himself.
His hand clenched on the armrest of the chair as if trying to ground himself. He chuckled quietly, though the sound lacked humor. "Hah… what am I even thinking? I barely know her. She's a stranger… and yet—"
His eyes softened as they lingered on her face.
"…And yet, why does she feel like someone I need to protect?"
The room was still. He could hear the faint creak of the wooden walls, the occasional whisper of the wind slipping through the shutters.
Ethan leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, never looking away from her sleeping figure.
"Pure and vulnerable, huh? …Or maybe just stronger than anyone I've met, but too stubborn to show it." He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
The feeling remained, quietly settling in his chest like a tide he couldn't resist.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, Lirael's fingers twitched...